Safety



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (N0 ModeL) G. REYNOLDS. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

Patented Mar. 31, 1885 N, PETERS. Pholr lithugnphor. Washingwfl. 0.6.

(N0 ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. H. REYNOLDS. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

N0. 314,721. Patented MarfBl, 1885.

N. FEIERS. Pholn-Lithogruplwn Washing-[01L uc.

UNITED, STATES GEORGE H. REYNOLDS OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO,

PATENT OFFICE.

CRANE BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILL.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314:,721, dated March 31, 1885.

Application filed December 26, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Appliances for Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of safety appliances for elevator cars comprising an air-resistance plate or board, or a parachuteplate, as it may be termed, whichis arranged below the car, and constitutes a stop to pre vent the operation of the safety pawls or dogs. When the car acquires an undue speed in descending, the resistance of the air in the well will buoy up or lift said plate and release the safety pawls or dogs. This plate or board has been hung or pivoted as a lever below the car, and the longer or heavier arm of the lever has formed or carried the stop to hold the safety pawls or dogs out of operation but heretofore this plate or board has not been so connected that the safety pawls or dogs would be released instantly in case the hoisting-cables broke, but has only acted when the car had acquired such a speed in falling as would cause the plate or board to move by resistance of the air.

One object of my invention is to so hang the plate or board that an obstruction in the well at any point in the area of the bottom of the car, whether on one side or the other of the fulcrums or trunnions ofthe plate or board, will raise the latter and release the safety pawls or dogs; and another object is to so connect the plate or board with the hoisting-connection that it will be raised instantly on the breaking of the hoisting-cables and release the safety pawls or dogs before the car can require any acceleration of speed in falling. The first object I accomplish by providing on the car hangers or brackets for the fulcrums ortrunnions of the plate or board, which are slotted or open, so that the plate or board will be raised by any obstruction below the car, whether on one or other side of the fulcrums or trunnions; and the second object I accomplish by connecting the plate or board with the hoisting-connections or safety-spring, so that when the cables break the safety-spring will by its action instantly raise the plate or board and release the safety pawls or dogs.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the lower portion of a car with safety appliances embodying my inven tion. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the. safety appliances and guides on the plane of the dotted line w :0, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the plane of the dotted line y y, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a side View of a car and appliances for throwing in the safety dogs or pawls in case of the hoisting-cables parting.

Similar letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

I will refer first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3. A designates the car, which may be of any suitable construction, and in itself forms no invention.

B designates the upright guides at opposit sides of the elevator-shaft, and a. designates slides on the bottom of the car, which fit these guides. ings at, here shown as made in the same castings with the slides a, having journaled in them a shaft, b, at opposite ends of which are fixed safety dogs or pawls c, which traverse along wood safety-strips d on the guides B as the car rises and falls. Thesestrips (2 may be multiple strips'that is to say,they' may be each composed of two or more sections glued together, and the dogs or pawls a may engage with the edges of the sections. This construction of safety-strip is shown and described in my allowed application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 143,524, and filed September 20, 1884, and its advantages are that it prevents the strip from warping, and also tends to prevent the splitting of the wood stripin advance of the dog or pawl. In my said application the lower dogs or pawls no the car are connected by rods with corresponding upper dogs or pawls, and I have here shown the shaft 5 as having arms I), which are connected by rods b with upper dogs. (Not here shown.) Below the car is suspended what I term an air-resistance plate or board, 0. As here shown, it consists of a frame, 6, composed of wood or metal,and having nearer one edge than the other projecting fulcrums or trunnions 6. By these fulpart of my" crums or trunnions it is hung or pivoted in slot-ted or open hangers or beaiings'f. depending from the car A. This device 0, therefore, forms a lever, the long arm of which slightly p'reponderatesin weight and rests lightly on hangers or supports g,depending from the car A. As shown, that bar of the frame 6 which is parallel with and nearest the fnlcrums e is heavier than the other parts of the frame, and this greater weight serves to more orless counterbalance the longer arm ofthe lever or frame;

' but I may also provide a weight, k, adjustable descends.

along a bar, h, on the under side of the frame, and this may be set so as to balance the frame as nearly as is desired. The portion of the frame 6 which constitutes the longer arm of the leveris covered with sheet-iron e", or other material which is indestructible by elements or by vermin, and offers a surface on which the air may act to lift the plate as the car Onthe shaft b is an upwardlyprojecting arm, b and on the frame 6 is a shoulder or catch, 5,-which bears against the arm biand by preventing it from swinging outward holds the dogs or pawls 0 out of action. .Iftheplate 0 be raised to take the catch or shoulderi out of the way of the arm b the weight of the arms b and rods 1)", aided by the power of a spring, if found necessary, will cause the shaft b to turn in a direct-ion to throw the dogs or pawls into the safety-strips d. The plate 0 is to be weighted and balanced asdesired, so that when the car is moving at the normal speed the plateOwill remain atrest on the hangers g, as shown. Now, if the speed increases by any reason beyond the predetermined limit, the resistance of the air will lift the end of the plate C, whichrests on the hangers 9, because the covering thereof offers a surface for the air to act on, and will raise the shoulder or catch 1' and release the arm b Not only will this plate 0 be raised by the rethe openv or slotted hangers permitting the plate .to lil'tat anypoint, whether the obstruction be on one or otherside of the fulcrums or trunnions e.

To offer a guard which will meet any obv strnction and cause the lifting of the plate 0, I may cover all that part not covered by sheet In Fig. 4 I have represented a car A in its hoisting-cage A and connections whereby the plate or board'G, which maybe suspended or hung in any of the ways before described, may be lifted to release the safety. pa ls or dogs 0 when the hoisting-cables break. These cables are attached to a shackle or hoistingconnection, It, and when the cables are intact this shackle or connection is lifted or held in theposition shown,and thereby holdsasp'ring, Z, compressed or in a state of tension.

at designates a cord or other flexible connection attached at one end to the spring l, and passing thence over pulleys m down to ,the plate 0, to which it is attached. When the cables-j break, theeXp-ansion of the springl lifts the plate or board 0, and releasesthe' safety devices before the car can acquire any momentum.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with ,an elevator-car and safety devices therefor. of an air-resistance plate or board provided with trnnnions, hangers,or bracketson the undersideofthecar, constituting open or slotted bearings. which support the trunnions and permit of their rising, and a catch upon said plate or board-forholding the safety devices, out of operation, whereby the said plate or board will be raisedto release the safety devices in case of its striking' any obstruction at any part of its surface,

substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with an elevator-car and-its safety dogs or pawls, of a satetyspring which is held compressed when the hoistingcables are intact, a plate or board arranged pawls, and connections whereby said. plate or board will be raised by the safety-spring in case of the cables parting, substantially as O. HALL, FREDK. HAYNES.

I below the car, to be lifted by the resistance of vair when the desired speed is exceeded, and

forming a stop or catch for the safety dogsor. 

